A Christmas to Remember
by Minagi Ito
Summary: Things always a bit crazy with them, but will they pull it through or not? Mikoto/Mai and other usual couples. Warning: One-shot done in different point of views.


**Mai HiMe: A Christmas to Remember**

_Own nothing..._

_The logic that's Nao's intuition..._

I was there that day, the day where my good friend was forced to watch the woman she love died right in front of her eyes. Only to find out later on that she was going in her last stage of lung cancer. The person that killed her was my friend's lover rival ever since junior high, but in the end it was Minagi Mikoto that won the school's home coming queen's heart. Though in the end, Julie died with the man that she wasn't in love with to keep him from hurting Mikoto, she was in the car with him and a bomb went off turning both of them into nothing more than charcoals.

But all of that was five years ago, at that time there was someone else there, witnessing such thing too. Tohkiha Mai, who happened to be there to pick up her brother because of the school's lockdown thanks to Mikoto's love rival for dragging Julie out into the car with him while having a bomb strapped on himself. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, though the two had gotten rather friendly in recent months because that busty woman he been pursuing Mikoto for the last two years now. Though I have a feeling that one Mikoto opened up her heart and let that woman in, she will definitely do something stupid to hurt my friend for sure.

So, my intuition was dead on, "What's wrong?" Mikoto didn't answer my question, but rather let out a heavy sigh and rested her head on the table. She looked like someone who just got her dog ran over by a car or something, and the only time she looked like that was something really bad had happened. To be honest, I haven't seen that look since Julie's death, which was five years ago. "Something happened between you two, didn't it?" I pressed on even though I don't want to, but she's my friend and I wanted to know what the hell that woman done to her to make her look like that. "It's nothing, there's nothing to talk about." Mikoto shrugged in an uncaring manner but I could tell there's bitterness in her voice.

_Somewhere else…_

"You did what?!" I asked, nearly choking on my breakfast as well as falling off the chair I'm sitting on from shock and surprise. I, Kuga Natsuki would've never in a million years understand how my best friend: Tohkiha Mai could do anything wrong. She was the kind of person that could do no wrong, who had actually went and did something so stupid that it's unbelievable even to me. "I know… I just…" she was struggling with her answer and looked lost at the same time. I guess I shouldn't have raised my voice at her like that.

"Ara, ara, Natsuki please calm down," Fujino Shizuru said while drinking her tea. Yeah, my girlfriend is a tea lover, and we've been together since junior high. "Mai-han, you spent the last two years chasing after my cousin," Shizuru paused and Mai nodded her head in a rather defeated manner. "Then you two have sex," she's blunt and I had to check my nose to make sure it's not bleeding but I'm sure that my face was burning. "Only to run off right after she fell asleep without so much as leaving a note to explain why," she finished, and I could tell that my girlfriend was seriously angry at my best friend just by the slight change in her voice. Believe it or not, it's not easy to tell if she's angry or not because her expression never changed, the elegant smile and feather light voice made her look like an angel.

"For two years, yet I felt like I still don't know anything about her at all." Mai suddenly burst into tears. "I know it's stupid to leave like that, but I can't help but wonder about her past when I saw all the scars on her back. That's when I realized that there's so much about her that I don't even know about. I panicked and had done something that probably irreversible…" Mai continued to cried hard, so hard that she started to have hiccups. I tried to console her while glaring at my girlfriend at the same time, though my glaring has no effect on her whatsoever. "You could at least stay until she got up and ask her about it. I'm sure that Mikoto would tell you if you'd only ask about it," Shizuru explained mellowing down a bit though her anger toward Mai was still there.

_At Mikoto's apartment…_

"I guess it was naïve of me to let her in," Mikoto said with a sad smile on her face. My friend, who spent her days in front of the computer has never looked worn and frail as she is now. "You still got us," I said trying to cheer her up. "Honey, you're not helping her right now," Yuuki Shiho said while jabbing onto my ribcage lightly. This woman with silky long pink hair is my wife of two years, we met when we're in high school and has been together since. We both watched Mikoto went into despair over Julie's death to happiness with Tohkiha Mai and now back to despair because of Tohkiha Mai. "Ow…" I hissed at my wife but my friend just downed another glass of hard liquor (whiskey).

"Mikoto-chan, mother asked if you can help out at the restaurant in the afternoon instead of morning since one of our staff is on vacation." Shiho said instead of asking. "Sure, I'm currently taking a break from work too…" Mikoto nodded her head. I seriously doubt that she's taking a break from work though, the girl is too much of a workaholic to take a break. It's more like she's waiting for a new project to work on since she's working from home as an application tester since she graduated from college three years ago. She's working for her family to be exact, they owned a large IT consulting firm and she will be taking over the firm someday but for now she's just a software tester and programmer when needed. "Come over for dinner, mother misses you." Shiho smiled taking Mikoto's hand in hers, a comforting gesture. "Sure, I love Sakiko-san's cooking," she smiled at last and Shiho got up and hugged her. I couldn't help but grinned cockily at my friend, she would always smiled no matter what at the mention of my mother's cooking.

_The voice in Mai's head…_

I've called her a few times, but she didn't answer her phone or call me back. She's not working today either, though I saw her coming in late in the afternoon. Maybe she's avoiding me, I can't blame her if she is. Even when I tried to talk to her, she just ignored me or brushed me off. Sometimes, I felt like crying because it hurt when she ignores me like that, I guess I deserve it for running out on her like that.

Since last week, she stopped coming to work altogether. I asked Shiho, but she just shook her head in return. "Sakiko-san, do you by any chance knew if Mikoto is sick or something?" I asked the woman with long red hair that's going down to her waist, out of desperation. "Hmm… she is probably in Tokyo for a seminar and won't be back for another week or two." Sakiko-san said after a long moment of silent as she pondered about something. "Mai-chan, whatever happened between you and her, please resolve it." Sakiko-san said and I could only nod my head in return. It seemed that I've been walking around with a sign on my forehead saying that I hurt Mikoto, and I was the cause of her heartache.

"What do you want?" she asked me in a cold and detached voice that made my heart bleed. It has been two months since that night, but this would be the first time I'm able to be alone with her. "I…" I started but couldn't get the rest of my thoughts out. So I took in a deep breath and tried again, "I want to apologize for leaving suddenly without telling you that night." "Apology accepted," the same flat tone answered as she went to close the door on me. "Please give me another chance," I said as I stopped her from closing the door and shutting me out of her life completely. "For what? For you to fuck me over again?" she asked coldly and vulgarly.

Minagi Mikoto, vulgar and cold, this was the side of her that I've never seen before. It just goes to show how much I've hurt her, just thinking about it make my heart ache. For some reason, it seemed that I had started crying without me realizing it. How did I realize that just now? Because Mikoto has cupped my face with her hands, while gently wiping my tears away with her thumbs in a caring manner like when we watched a sad movie and I ended up crying. "I really wanted to belief you Mai, but how can I be sure that you won't run from me again." Mikoto stated rather than asking, though her voice was gentler than before as her golden eyes shown a myriad of emotions within them.

I fell in love with those golden eyes, they're so soulful and beautiful that the more I looked into them the deeper I come to love its owner. A person who hardly talk, yet her eyes spoke volumes and can capture your soul without realizing it, I come to fall in love with the way she smiles and sighs when she thought no one was looking. I come to love how she would visit her girlfriend's gravesite each year even though it's half a world away. I come to love everything about her that I don't know why I ran away from her for, because she's simply just a wonderful person and that I'm crazy over her.

_Inside Mikoto's apartment…_

"I was afraid because I realized that there were so much about you that I still don't know about," Mai said once we settled onto the couch with a hot cup of tea in our hands. "You could always ask me," I replied looking over at her even though she seemed to think that the tea in the teacup was more interesting at the moment. "The scars on your back…" she murmured turning the cup in her hands. "Kendo training," I answered taking a sip of the tea and looking at the white wall before me. "We come from a very old family of the samurai bloodline, and kendo training was one of the traditions that we all must learn at a very young age. After mastering the basic of kendo, we are then given real swords in our training in order for us to advances in our training to become today's best samurai." I explained though I'm not sure if she understood any of it.

"So what do you do for a living?" she asked as her amethyst eyes stared at me brieftly before darting back down into the cup. "I know waiting table at the restaurant doesn't require you to attend seminar," she continued. "I'm a software tester, I test programs for bugs and stuff. I also develop certain applications and work as a consultant, though I don't do consultant works whatsoever. Nao does the consultant works with many other people at the firm, while I work from home." I said in a simplest way as I could for her to understand.

"Let's move in together," Mai said suddenly. I was really taken aback by it, what she just said was completely out of the blue compare to what we just talked about. "Where did that come from?" I said trying not to sound too surprised at her suggestion. "Your cousin made me think about a lot of things," she paused for a moment. "Shizuru-san opened my eyes to see things that I never saw before," she said looking up at me with wet eyes like she's about to cry at any seconds now. "I wanted to see you when I wake up each morning, getting ready for work. I want to come home and see you falling asleep on the couch from being on the computer all day long. I don't want you to think that I run away when you get up and I'm not there. I want us to have dinner together every evening even though we can't have breakfast together every morning. I want us to just lounge around in bed doing nothing but making love on our days off from work." Mai blushed as she continued to talk while looking down at the cup in her hands. "I know the tea is good, but are you asking me to move in with you or the teacup?" I asked in a serious voice and she snapped her head up to look at me immediately. I didn't dare to laugh, though I have to say that it was quite amusing to witness.

We kissed; I missed this feeling, the feeling of her lips and tongue. I'm addicted to this woman, her voice, her eyes, and her radiant smile, everything about her reminded me of why I can't get enough of her. I was able to move forward again after Julie's death was because of her, and I'm grateful for that even though she hurt me after we made love for the first time. She'd work herself so deep inside my heart that I would forgive her even if she purposely went and rip my arms off, that's just how much I love her.

_About two months later…_

Christmas Eve finally came and a party was held at the Minagi Estate, with the Fujino and Minagi Clans along with some close friends from both clans there. But at the Fujino Estate, another party took place as well. This party mainly consisted of the following people: Fujino Shizuru, Kuga Natsuki, Yuuki Nao, Yuuki-Munakata Shiho (Yuuki Shiho for short), Kikukawa-Suzushiro Haruka, Kikukawa Yukino, Kuga Alyssa, Kuga-Greer Miyu, Tohkiha Mai and Minagi Mikoto.

"Looks like they made up," Natsuki said upon the other couple's entrance, whenever she saw Mai it's like nothing changed about her friend. "Ara, didn't Natsuki know that they bought a house and moved into it together last month?" Shizuru asked while holding a glass of wine in her hand, standing in her deep crimson winter kimono. "What?!" Natsuki's shocking voice interrupted everyone else's conversation on the other side of the room. "Honestly, why are you being so loud about?" Kikukawa Haruka asked glaring over at Natsuki. She also dresses in kimono, though her wife of ten years dresses in casual clothes instead of traditional clothes (married since Yukino was 16). "Excuse my sister, she's always loud like that." Kuga Alyssa said in a playful manner to the others earning herself a death glare from Natsuki.

"I don't know what's more shocking," Nao said in an exaggerated tone. "Them getting back together and living together or you two still haven't gotten married or move in together yet…" before Nao could finish, she has to dodge a flying cushion from a badly blushing Natsuki. Somewhere on the other side of the room, Mai was laughing away while Mikoto talked to Shiho and Miyu. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves; Nao smiled faintly watching her wife and friends enjoying their little conversation.

Mai was definitely radiant in her bright red kimono that Mikoto had got for her last week, while Mikoto looked charming in her black suit instead of kimono. After their first fallout, Mai realized that she'd gone and hurt the girl she spent two years wooing just because there are so many things she didn't know about the girl. And Mikoto came to realized that she loved the busty woman too much to end it all, though she had to made it clear that it should never happen again or its over for good (bluffing). Ever since they got back together and Mai's proposal about living together, they had bought a house and moved in together. Slowly but surely, they're becoming just like a married couple, both women enjoying their current relationship immensely and had already making plans about having a pet or two in the coming year.

Even at the insisting of their friends to stay the night, Mai and Mikoto declined the kind offer and drove home (fifteen minutes away). "Merry Christmas," Mikoto said as soon as they got inside. "Merry Christmas to you too," Mai replied giving her girlfriend a light kiss on the lips. "Marry me," Mikoto said after she turned Mai around to see the Christmas tree lit up in _I love you, marry me_ pattern that Mikoto had spent the whole day preparing before they left for the party. Mai isn't sure whether to laugh or to cry; of course both would be from happiness. Their relationship had really taken a hundred and eighty degree turn since Mikoto opened up to Mai and all the more so since they got back together after the initial breakup. Before her, Mikoto had produced a velvety black box with platinum ruby double row channel set ruby squares and princess cut diamonds eternity ring (cost about five thousand dollars) inside, staring back at her waiting for her answer. Mai could tell that it's not a cheap ring with the amount of diamonds and rubies on it, though she knew that it's something her girlfriend could easily afford without burning a hole in her pocket. But it doesn't really matter, it's the thought that count so even if it's just a cheap ring Mai wouldn't mind at all because it's Mikoto that she loves not the ring or the wealth of her family.

"Yes…" Mai whispered as tears started rolling down her cheeks. Mikoto took the ring and tossed the box onto the table, taking Mai's left hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. "I love you, Mrs. Minagi Mai," Mikoto said kissing Mai's neck lightly eliciting sweet moans from the older woman. "I love you too," Mai said though her tears while looking at the ring on her hand as her other hand rested on the arms that was wrapped around her waist. "Should we let the others know?" Mikoto asked as she continued to kiss Mai's neck. "Mmm… Let them figure things out on their own," Mai purred at the sensation as she wiped her happy tears away.

"This is the best Christmas ever," Mai said with a bright smile on her face as she turned around to face Mikoto. She got her arms wrapped around Mikoto's neck, while Mikoto still maintain her hands around Mai's waist. "It'll get better," Mikoto said with a soft smile on her lips as she suddenly swept Mai off her feet and headed for the bedroom. This Christmas was definitely getting better by the second and Mai couldn't be happier to share it with the girl she loves more than anything else in the world.

End~

_A/N: Happy Holiday! I actually wrote this on paper before typing it up, and amzingly didn't have to tweak it much. Which was rare because if I wrote anything on papers, the amount of editing I ended up doing when I type it up become staggering. Hope y'all enjoy it and have a wonderful holiday though. I just started reading Dante Valentine Series, and it is slowly got my brain going so I hope it can stimulate my brain to finish up unfinished works. Ja ne~_


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